Repertory dial



NOV. 17, 1936. I w GREEN 2,061,273

REPERTORY DIAL Filed May 22, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q/NVENTOR W. GRE E N A TTORNEY Nov. 17,1936. w, EE 2,061,273

' 'REPERTOBY DIAL Filed May 22, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 2 F G. 3

lNl/ENT OR I. W. GREEN waxm,

ATTORNEY Nov. 17, 1936. L R EN 2,061,273

REPERTORY DIAL Filed May 22, '1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGS INI/EN TOR W. GREEN u %(ac %MEM ATTORNEY I Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REPERTORY DIAL Irving w. Green, CranforrL N. J., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 22,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to calltransmitters used in automatic telephone systems and more particularly tothe type of transmitter generally known as repertory dials.

In such call transmitter discs are-provided at their peripheries with groups of .teeth disposed in .a manner to form calling codes, these discs, together with a selecting mechanism actuated thereby, cooperating for controlling the operation impulses according to the character of the code element selected. These discs are formed with radial slots for mounting them on a rotatable I frame and a spring is provided for holding them in position 'on the frame. In the manufacture of such discs, however, it has been found practically impossible to space the teeth and the slots sufllciently accurately as to secure their align-, ment on their mounting frame with respect to a selecting arm and therefore the operation of this arm relative to the operation of the pulsing contacts, thus resulting inthe so-called mutilation or clipping of the pulses and the faulty operation of the switches controlled thereby.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction of such transmitters and to simplify their operation.

A feature of this invention consists in employing a step-by-step drive instead of a continuous drive for the drum which carries the code discs which control the masking of the impulses. The

drum has a gear wheel which is advanced by a pin on the same member that operates the pulsing contacts, giving complete assurance that the drum can be advanced only during the closed portion of the pulsing period and avoiding clipping of the pulses by the maskingcontactsat the beginning and end of a train of impulses.

Another feature consists in forming the code elements in the shape of rings and providing a drum over which these rings are slipped, the assembly being clamped in place on the drum.

Another feature consists in eliminating the index card heretofore used by marking the name individual to each ring on thering itself thereby avoiding any confusion in assembling the rings on' the drum, a window being provided in the casing through which the portions of the rings bearing the names can be readily seen.

- A further feature consists in the use of a three level code ring to avoid unnecessary operation of the off-normal springs which control the telephone set circuit. This permits the driving'effort to be reduced by providing a separate step for the final restoration of such oif-normal springs.

of pulsing contacts for transmitting trains of 1935, Serial No. 22,692

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and by the claims appended thereto, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view;

Fig. 2 is a front assembly view of the mechanism showing the housing in section;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the mechanism; 7

Fig. 4 is a left side view showing the drum operating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a modification of the transmitter showing the housing with portions cut away;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5; and v Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a code ring used in the transmitter.

.As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, a spindle in is securely mounted on a base I l as by a number of screws 9 and on this spindle is rotatably mounted a drum member I2 having a flange portion 13 on which rest a plurality of code elements in the form of rings I4, mounted in superposed relation on the drum l2, these rings being clamped on the drum l2 by a spider member I5 under the action of screws l6 and IT.

The code elements are'held in adjusted relation with respect to each other by keys, such as l9 shown in Figs. 2 and 3, disposed 120 degrees apart as shown in Fig. 3 and the drum I2 is prevented from axial movement on the spindle ID by a nut screw l8 engaging the top end of this spindle. I

The drum l2 isprovided with a reduced portion 20 having a flange 2| for securely mounting, as by screws 23, a gear'22 and a notched ring 24. The drum l2 and the code elements ll carried thereby are rotated intermittently through the operation of a rotatable finger member 25 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 disposed in operative'relation with 40 the gear 22. Finger member 25 is mounted on a I shaft 26 journaled in bearings 21 and 28 and carries a pulley 29 and an impulse cam 80 of insulating material, pulley 29 being operatively connected to a pulley 3i securely mounted on the armature shaft of a motor 32 by a belt 33.-

A switch 34, shown in Figs. 2 and 4, which may be of any well-known construction, is provided Y for controlling the operation of motor 32 through the operation of a manually operable handle 35 pivoted as at 36 on abracket 31securely mounted on the base II and engaging the movable element 38 of switch 34. Handle lever 35 is provided with a laterally extending arm 39 shown in Figs. 2 and 4 provided with a roller 40 normally engaging 65,

the notch d! of ring 26 under the tension of th switch retractile spring, not shown.

On base is mounted a bracket 42, shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, provided for mounting a pair of normallyclosed springs 43 and 4t, spring 43 having at its free end a bent portion BP extending in operable relation with the impulse cam 30 for opening the contact thus formed upon the operation of the motor 32.

On the base II is secured as by screws 35 an upwardly extending bracket 46 shown in Figs. 2, 3, andd provided for securing the top end of a vertically disposed bar ll secured at its lower end to the base H by a screw 48. On bar 4'! is slidably mounted a block 59 of insulating material provided with a thumb screw 50 for engaging any one of the recesses 51 in the bar G? for holding the block in adjusted position and on this insulating block, are mounted contact members 5t, 52, 53, 5E, 55, and 57. Contact 'member 5! is provided with a shoe member 58 for engaging the surface of the code ring selected and cooperates with contact 52 for negativing predetermined operations of the impulse contact members 53 and 5 3 according to the character of the code element with which they are operatively associated, the contact members 53, 54 and 55, 5'5

1 being provided to perform switching functions well known in the telephone art and form no part of this invention.

On the insulating block at is mounted an index member 59 which cooperates with marks on the rings for indicating the code to be transmitted, these marks being engraved on the code elements or made in the form of printed indices secured on the code elements as by suitable adhesive, and

connections are made to contacts Si, 52; 53, 54; 55, 517; and 43, d4 through a suitablebank terminalBT shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A casing 60 shown in elevational view in Figs. 1 and 2 is provided for housing the transmitter mechanism and may be secured to the base H in any suitable manner.. i

The code ring Hi shown in the enlarged view in Fig. 7 is cut with notches representing the call'number 99913428 and the usual interdigit spaces IS of equal length.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 5, a gear sector Si pivoted as at Xi is provided with a handle 62 and engages a pinion 8:3 for rotating it and simultaneously vtensioning a spiral spring 5 1 having its outer end connected to a gear 65 the movement of this gear through the engagement of pawl 85 with'a ratchet shaped tooth in the hub iii of pinion 53 rotates a pinion 68 secured to the underside of gear 55-) and keyed to a shaft it; pinion 113 for rotating the angle gears H and i2 and thereby the shaft 73 which is journaled on bearings is and 15 of bracket it and this shaft carries a cam ll of insulating material for engaging a stop pin 82. carried by this gear for stopping it in its. normal unoperated position. The disengagement of this pawl from the pin 82 ispefiected by arms 83 and 8 1 secured on the ends of a sleeve 85 loosely mounted on shaft 9B The gear 55?! engages with a and. operated'through the engagement of lugs 86 and B1 of gear sector Bl for engaging the camming portion C of arm 83 with the pin P extending laterally from pawl Bil.

In a typical example of operation of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, block 49 and the index 58 carried thereby are moved manually in registry with the code element bearing the code designation desired to be transmitted and is secured in that position by the tightening of thumb screw 56 engaging with one of the recesses 5i in the guiding bar 47. The movement of block is is efiective to position the spring Si in operative relation with the code element indicated by the index 59 when in registry with the code ring bearing the indicia desired. The manual operation of lever arm 35 is effective to actuate the movable member 38 of switch 34 for engaging its contacts and thereby closing the operating circuit of motor 32 and simultaneously moving the arm 39 and the roller fill carried thereby from the notch ll of ring 24. The operation of motor 32 is effective to rotate the shaft 26 for actuating the cam 38 and thereby the pulsing spring 3; The movement of shaft 26 rotates finger member for actuating the gear 22, one tooth for each turn of shaft 26, and thereby actuating the code elements for.

operating the shunting contacts 5i and 52 for negativing a number of operations of pulsing cam 38 according to the character of. the code element or ring selected. It is to be noted, however, that the impulse springs are operated while the code elements are at rest due to the angular relation of the finger 25 with the pulsing cam 36 on shaft 25, this operation being continued untilthe notchiil of disc 2s registers with the roller to permit the opening of the switch it while stopping the drum l2 and the code elements carried thereby in theirv normally unoperated position, thus preparing the transmitter for a subsequent operation. v

In a typical example of operation of the transmitter using the modification shown inv Figs. 5'

and 6, the movement of gear sector El through the operation of handle 52 toward the immovable handle BZX is effective to rotate the pinion 83 for tensioning the motor spring 64 and simul- I'he lug ill carried by gear sector ti engages the arm 3 at the lower end of sleeve for imparting a small angular movement to arm 83 secured to the upper end of sleeve 85 for engaging the cam portion C of this arm with the pin P and thereby camming this pawl from the stop pin 32 for releasing gear 55. Upon the return movement of gear sector ti and the reverse movement of pinion t3 and therefore the movement of gear 55 is effective to'rotate the pinion 88, the shaft ll? and the gear 59 secured thereto for actuating the pinion it and the angle gears ii and 32, the latter rotating the shaft 73 for imparting movement to the impulse cam Ti and the driving wheel it. The movement of gear 18 is effective to rotate the gear 22 intermittently in timed relation with respect to the'operation of impulse springs 33 and M shown in Fig. 5 by the cam ii, the operation of motor spring 5 3 operating taneously engaging the ratchet tooth of hub 63 with the pawl 86 carried by gear 65.

ments selected in each case being efiective to.

negative a predetermined operation of the pulsing mechanism for sending sets of impulses according to the code of such element;

What is claimed is:

1. A call transmitter adapted to automatically transmit successive sets of impulses corresponding to characters of a telephone; number, charaoterized in this that a step-by-step drive is utilized for the shaft carrying the code members which control the masking of the pulsing contacts, this shaft carrying a gear which is advanced by a pin on the same member that operates the pulsing contacts, this pin advancing the gear wheel only during the closed portion of the pulsing period.

2. A call transmitter according to claim 1, characterized in this that the shaft is in the form of a drum and the code members are in the form of rings which may be readily slipped over the end of the drum and clamped together.

3. A call transmitter according to claim 1, char acterized in this that the shaft is in the form of a drum and the code membersare in theform of rings slipped over the drum and clamped together and that each code ring carries aname card as part of the code ring.

circuit closed until the roller is again aligned with pair of impulse contacts, a rotating member for intermittently opening and closing said contacts at a predetermined rate, code rings having their peripheral surfaces difierently notched to transmit codes of impulses, each ring bearing a stationdesignation on a smooth portion of its peripheral surface, a. drum upon which said rings are mounted in superposed relation, a source "of driving energy, a drive connection between said source and said drum and rotating member, the

- connections between said source and said drum and member driving the'latter a number of revow lutions for each revolution of said drum, shunt springs adapted to be manually placed operative relation to the periphery oi! any ring to control the transmission of thecode of impulses corresponding to said ring.

6. In a call transmitter adapted to automatically transmit successive sets of impulses corresponding to characters of a telephone number, a pair of impulse contacts, a rotating member for. intermittently' opening and closing sald'contacts at a predetermined rate, code rings having their peripheral surfacesdifierently notched to transmit codes of impulses, a drum upon which said rings are mounted in superposed relation, 2. source of driving energy, a drive connection between said source and said drum and rotating member, the connections from said source to said rotating member driving said rotating member a number of revolutions for each revolution of said drum;

shunt springs adapted tobe manually placed in operative relation to the periphery of any 'ring to control the transmission of the code impulses corresponding to said ring.

7. In a call transmitter adapted to automaticah ly transmit in succession sets of impulses corresponding to characters of a telephone number, a

at a predetermined rate, code members. a shaft upon which said code membersare mounted. a gear on said shaft, a pinon said rotating member for advancing said gear'to' ve said shaft and code members by, an intermit ent motion so that the same are advanced only during the closed portion of the pulsing period, and shunt springs adapted to be manually placed in operative rela tion to any code. member.

8. In a call transmitter, a set of rings having camsv at their peripheries. a drum for receiving said rings, means carried at the periphery of said drum and disposed in different angular relation thereon and means in said rings registering with said means on said drum for defining the angular relation of said rings with respect to each other, an impulse mechanism, and a contact controlled by the operation of said rings for negativing a.

predetermined number of said impulses.

9. A call transmitter comprising a plurality 0 rings having cams at their peripheries, a drum for receiving said rings, means for rotatably supporting said drum, an impulse mechanism operatively connected to said drum, 2. motor, a manually onerable switch for controlling the operation of said motor for actuating said drum and said mechanism, means carried by said drum torpreventing the operation or said switch during the movement of said drum, and automatic operating means for opening said switch for stopping the operation of said motor.

' IRVING,W.. GREEN. 

